Arisu made her way over to Ai with the help of her cane, bringing the ninth member with her: Yamamura Miki.
To understand how Miki came to join, we have to go back to the class exam, the period when Suzune was serving as leader. At that time, Arisu had come to find Ryunosuke and spoken without any preamble.
"Yamamura Miki seems to have feelings for you as well. Are you going to pursue her or not?"
Ryunosuke, who had been playing chess with Arisu, immediately felt his will to live dim. He ignored the suggestion and kept his eyes on the board.
Arisu nudged him with one small foot, the white stocking catching the light.
"I don't mind if you find other women."
"You don't mind, but I DO!" Ryunosuke finally snapped. "What exactly do you want? First Masumi, now Miki. Don't think I don't know that the Masumi situation was your doing. I had to spend 20 million points saving her because of you!"
Did he not care about those 20 million points? He cared enormously. He had simply pretended to be calm in front of Masumi while quietly dying inside.
Arisu could see plainly that he was suffering over the lost points, and so she offered appropriate compensation. She stood, smoothed her skirt, and settled herself into his lap with the composed ease of a porcelain doll taking up its designated place.
Ryunosuke stopped moving his pieces and said with resignation, "You really shouldn't do this. If you keep it up, I'm going to end up forgiving you."
"Then please forgive me." Arisu said sweetly, already beginning to make herself comfortable.
Ryunosuke felt a chill run through his entire body at how effective this was, and before he could stop himself, he said, "Fine, you're forgiven."
Arisu was deeply satisfied. The technique was clearly very reliable. She pressed on. "Make sure you get Yamamura-san. From what I know, she's had feelings for you for a while. You just have to give her a small push."
She made an OK sign with her fingers. "It will work."
Ryunosuke looked thoroughly defeated, his whole manner screaming that he wanted to give up entirely. Seeing her man lack any enthusiasm, Arisu shifted into a wounded expression.
"I'm the weakest of all your women. Can you really bear to watch me be looked down on by the others?"
"Don't you have Masumi now?" Ryunosuke shot back quickly.
Seeing that tactic hadn't landed, Arisu changed approach. She put on her most fragile expression, tugged gently at the hem of his sleeve, and said in the softest, sweetest voice she had.
"My darling~"
Ryunosuke shook violently and promptly lost consciousness. When he came back to himself, he had apparently signed a document titled "Compulsory Conquest Agreement."
Arisu rolled it up and laughed softly. "Then Yamamura-san is in your hands."
Ryunosuke pressed his palm to his own face. "That word is dangerously effective. I completely blacked out."
Arisu touched her chin, blinked her large pretty eyes, and said with confidence, "Of course it is. I've been practicing."
Ryunosuke exhaled mournfully. "I'll try, but don't expect results. I've never approached anyone on purpose before. I can't guarantee anything."
Arisu only laughed. "You really do underestimate yourself."
She didn't mean his face. She meant the way he moved through the world. Even Arisu had to acknowledge it. She was genuinely curious about what kind of person had produced someone this particular. Average in appearance, extraordinary at drawing women in.
(Ryunosuke's mother, somewhere in the distance, scratched the back of her head with a bashful smile: "Ahaha, praise like that makes me a little shy~")
Ryunosuke accepted the mission, reluctantly. Ridiculous as it felt, he tried. Arisu provided support, of course. At that point she had not yet lost her grip on the class, so she still had people she could direct.
To create the right conditions, she loaded Miki down with every unpleasant and strenuous task she could find, assigned her to do it alone, and strictly forbade anyone from helping.
The real reason, naturally, was so that when the two of them were together there would be no interruptions and no witnesses, and therefore no gossip. Arisu had considered every angle. Her considerable intellect was perhaps being applied to a slightly unorthodox purpose, but no matter.
Miki was duly assigned to move the sports equipment by herself, without assistance. She felt deeply hurt and unfairly treated, but she did it anyway. Her height was misleading. Underneath it she was genuinely timid and easily frightened.
The sense that she was being excluded nearly broke her quiet, soft heart. But she kept going and started carrying the equipment alone.
(They probably gave me the physical task because I'm tall. That makes sense, I suppose.) She tried to console herself.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
After handing the class leader position over to Suzune, Ryunosuke arrived at the storage area. Without saying anything, he began helping Miki move the equipment in silence. Having no real experience with approaching someone deliberately, he fell back on the most straightforward method available: showing up and doing the work.
Miki started to refuse, but Ryunosuke simply carried on as though she hadn't said anything and kept working. Something warm settled quietly in her chest without permission.
When the last of the equipment was nearly done, Miki slipped away and came back with an armful of drinks, every variety she could find, plus water. She said in a small voice, "Um, Akasaka-kun, I didn't know what you like, so I just bought one of everything."
Ryunosuke, seeing her spend points so carelessly, corrected her on reflex. "Yamamura-san, don't waste your points. You'll run short when you actually need them."
Miki pulled her shoulders in and said quietly, "I, I understand..."
But what she was thinking was: (He's worried about me.)
The two of them sat down together for a short rest. Miki held her drink and fidgeted with it. She wanted to ask why he had been so kind to her. Did he like her? If he did, should she accept it?
Her thoughts had already run considerably ahead of themselves. She had already had feelings for him to begin with. If he confessed right now, there was probably a ninety percent chance she would say yes on the spot.